cav551:
peirre:
Stanley Knife:
Why are we importing sand?
I guess it’s the same reason why we import pebbles and aggregates from Spain 
Well, Kent County Council and Maidstone Borough council had a scheme to alter a one way system. While the road alterations were in progress, with the allied massive traffic delays, there was a several month hold up because the stone needed for the various paving or wallling facing was late in arriving from China. The delays are still going on while they finish off titivating.
There are various ragstone quarries in the immediate area. I live in one which was worked out many years ago. They managed to build Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament with stone which came from it, but obviously local stone is no longer good enough; it simply isn’t trending.
A lot of aggregate are specialist grades, a lot of filter sand is imported from Holland and Belgium.
The filter sand doesn’t come out quarry’s, but comes out the big rivers where it constantly get replaced due to erosion in the alps.
This sand is extremely pure and clean.
Other one is silver sand and casting sand.
Regarding helping a customer with getting their load on or off, as an operator can be an absolute nightmare and very good intentions can turn sour whneb it gets wrong, and most drivers after the hear of the massive claims will just say " I only tried to help"
In the past one of our subcontractors loaded a load of Whisky in Alexandria (Scotland)
To pump it in the tanker container, there was a problem as the truck could not get close enough to the loading point, and the driver was only carrying 2 length of alcohol pipes on his trailer.
To get it done, and to be in time for the ferry, he decided to pull another clean hose out his chassis, non alcohol approved.
This hose appeared to the driver “clean” however had been used previously to off-load a vegetable fat.
When finished loading the loader wanted to take a sample and there was a white substance floating on top of the whisky.
The load got put under quarantine until they found out what the floating product was.
When they found out, the product had to be destroyed on supervision of HMRC.
The cost of this was just over 1.2 million pound (18 year old whisky 70% proof for export, the whisky get diluted in Italy to 45% proof)
The driver could have avoid the disaster by just refusing to load, his company would have found a “better solution”
On another occasion, a helpfull driver undid the lifting straps from a CD pressing machine, at the same moment and just before he undid the last strap, the crane driver lifted the machine, and pulled it over and dropped of the trailer.
Insurance claim for a machine rebuild in Italy, transport cost and lost time for production.
Hence my reason: if it cannot be off-loaded than it is the receivers, and the senders problem, I sit back and wait.
And yes in 36+ years in transport, I have plenty stuff handballed, even barrels of oil which tyres on the floor to damp the impact.
Animal feed, handbaling on the trailer, and back off again at the customer.
But otherwise if it’s not mend to be touched by me, I won’t touch it.
In the bulk and tanker transport is it a regular occurrence that a load get rejected or there is over ordered, if it doesn’t fit, than I have to take it back, and they can sort the cost for it between theirselves.
had polish lorry in yesterday ,the roof was stuck at the back and wouldn’t roll forward ,fortunately I have a big fork lift with wide spread forks Otherwise I’d be stuck .